The present invention relates to an electric heating apparatus meant for heating a fluid in circulation and more especially for the heating of water in a basin or a pool, etc.
An electric heating installation meant for a pool generally comprises an electric heating apparatus, a system of pipes starting from the basin for transporting the fluid to be heated toward the heating apparatus, and the heated fluid from the heating apparatus toward the basin. A circulation pump mounted in series in the piping system makes possible the circulation of the fluid to be heated.
The patent document FR-A-2 621 992 describes an electric heating apparatus for a fluid in circulation, especially for the water of a pool. This apparatus comprises a U-shaped tube provided so that it can be connected, by its upstream end, to a fluid intake duct and, by its downstream end, to a fluid discharge duct. The upper parts of the two arms are T-shaped, the T(s) receiving an elongated heating element, such as immersible heaters, that are placed approximately in the axis of the ducts that form the legs of the U.
This heating apparatus gives full satisfaction, but it nevertheless has a certain number of drawbacks: its structure is relatively fragile and complex, this increasing its cost of fabrication. Also, it is not very compact, and therefore relatively difficult to install.
Attempts have been made to remedy these drawbacks by providing a heating apparatus of the type that comprises a piping section provided to be connected to a fluid intake duct and to a fluid discharge duct, said apparatus also comprising a heating unit fixed inside said section and in the longitudinal axis of the latter. This heating unit is made up of a metallic plate under which there is set, by means of threaded sockets, a heating element of the coil type. Such an apparatus is described in the American patent document U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,069.
A major drawback of this plate is found in the fact that in order to proceed to the replacement of the heating element it is necessary, each time, to remove from under the place the sockets for the fixation of that heating element.